WHEN THE SUNSHINE FADES, WHO WILL REMAIN?

When you are healthy you feel invincible, independent and less likely to feel sympathy for those that are ill. When you are healthy you go about your daily life; you work out, see your friends and family, enjoy the beautiful weather and ultimately just live.  

However when you become ill, life stops and you begin to view life through a different lens. Everything and everyone continues to move around you at their regular pace, and you are left by yourself to deal with your own misery. You might have some friends and family 'check in' on you, but the reality is, you are left to deal with the pain and the slow process of getting better all by yourself. 

It is not that your friends and family don't care about you, it's just that as humans, it is hard to put your life on hold to care for another when you yourself are healthy and have things you wish to do. Caring for another is somewhat a subconscious inconvenience. 

What if it is not simply a common cold, but something more severe where you require assistance from others on a more permanent basis. For instance, you are incapable of 2 daily acts of living and require the help of a caregiver. Or worse, you have become mentally incompetent to care for yourself. 

Don't assume that your spouse, your parents, or siblings will fill this role of caretaker for you (although you hope they would)  The reality is, just because life has stopped for you because of your illness, if they are healthy and able bodied they still have their own life to live and worry about.

This is why it is so important to make sure you have your Advanced Directives in place while you are healthy and able to make the decision for yourself. That includes your Durable Power of Attorney, Healthcare Surrogate and Living Will. You can even go so far as taking the burden away from your loved ones, by having a Long Term Care Insurance policy.

“Love me when I am healthy, but love me more when I am ill. Those that remain when the sunshine fades are the ones I want in my world”

Durable Power of Attorney: Name someone to manage your financial affairs either immediately or in the future should you become unable to do so yourself. 

Healthcare Surrogate: Name someone to act on your behalf if you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself.

Living Will: Document that will state how and if you want to prolong your life if you fall into a vegetative state

Long Term Care Insurance: Long-term care is care that you need if you can no longer perform everyday tasks (activities of daily living) by yourself due to chronic illness, injury or the aging process.  Long-term care is not only for the elderly. A large percentage of people receiving long-term care are under the age of 65.

“Caring for another is somewhat a subconscious inconvenience ”

You need to have an open discussion with whomever you wish to fill those roles and make sure they want to take on that responsibility for you. 

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.

REMEMBER: You can’t predict the future, but you can plan for it.
 

I WISH I COULD RECORD MY DREAMS AND WATCH THEM LATER

Do you ever wake up in the morning and you can vividly remember the details of a crazy dream you just woke up from? Then you get out of bed, start your day, drive to work, and make a few phone calls. By the time you get to work and want to tell your best friend about your dream, you realize you can't remember what the dream was even about. 

The dream obviously had some meaning to you, but without it being written down, it just slipped through your fingers and *poof* no longer exists.

“You may not be able to record your dreams and watch them later, but you can record your wishes and your loved ones can watch them fall into place when you are gone.”

 

People always say that they are 'thinking' about the perfect estate plan. They have it written in their head but it's not quit ready to be written down on paper.  They feel that once they have  come up with the perfect plan, they will write it down. Until then, ehh, it can wait for a rainy day.

Don't delay- start today. You may have forgotten what you want to happen.

What should an estate plan consist of in South Florida?

Last Will & Testament: State your final wishes regarding who will receive or who will not receive from your estate, name guardians for your minor children, state directions regarding organ donation and burial.

Revocable Trust (Living Trust): In depth document that will state your final wishes. You are able to place stipulations and retain control of your assets during your lifetime. 

Durable Power of Attorney: Name someone to manage your financial affairs either immediately or in the future should you become unable to do so yourself. 

Healthcare Surrogate: Name someone to act on your behalf if you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself.

Living Will: Document that will state how and if you want to prolong your life if you fall into a vegetative state

REMEMBER:  Your estate plan will never be perfect. Stop using the excuse that you will start planning once you know exactly how you want it written. There are so many moving parts in your life, that your estate plan will be consistently changing.

However, if nothing is written down, your wishes will not be known to your loved ones.

You may not be able to record your dreams and watch them later, but you can record your wishes and your loved ones can watch them fall into place when you are gone.  

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach counties it is time to start discussing with loved ones their estate planning needs. You can’t predict the future, but you can plan for it.

Contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Plantation, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.

A New Year's Resolution You Can Actually Follow Through With

We are now 4 days into 2016. You may or may not have already ditched your new years resolutions by now.  After all, just because the calendar presents a new year, it doesn't mean you are going to turn into a gym rat, run a marathon, or change your diet from regularly eating pizza and pasta to eating no carbs and drinking green smoothies.

There is one resolution you can make that does not require changing your daily routine; that is reviewing your estate plan! It is time to dust off your estate planning documents and make sure your plan accurately reflects your current wishes and goals.

If you live in South Florida and do not have any estate planning documents, it is time to prepare them! Estate planning documents, such as your will, trust, and power of attorney are living documents. They need to be reviewed and updated as the laws change and as your family and financial situations change.

“There is one resolution you can make that does not require changing your daily routine; that is reviewing your estate plan! ”

Have there been any life changing events since the last time you reviewed or prepared your estate plan? If you can answer 'yes' to any of the following questions, then your estate plan should be reviewed:

* Did you get married or divorced?

* Did your spouse pass away or become incapacitated?

* Did you have or adopt any children?

* Did any of your beneficiaries marry, divorce, have children, pass away or become incapacitated, or encounter creditors or other financial problems?

* Did any of your designated fiduciaries pass away or become unfit to serve in their designated roles?

* Did you retire?

* Did your financial situation change?

* Did you buy or sell a home?

* Did you sell your business?

* Did you acquire new assets?

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach county contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.

You Can’t Predict The Future, But You Can Plan For It.

A Verbal Contract Isn't Worth The Paper It's Written On

Before smartphones and email, a phone call to speak with someone directly was the fastest form of communication. It was much faster then writing a letter, mailing the letter, and then impatiently waiting for the response. By the time you got a response, you might have forgotten the question asked or the question was no longer relevant.

Life moves so fast that our generation expects an immediate response to an email and text. If we don't respond immediately, we might cause a boyfriend/girlfriend to start 'wondering' why you didn't respond (which is grounds for a lot of pointless arguments).  You might lose a potential client if you don't respond immediately. They might assume you are not interested in their business or that you are too busy. The potential client will quickly move onto the next person hoping to gain the immediate attention they are seeking. 

Luckily, people still enjoy face-to-face communication. A lot of business takes place after hours over happy hour drinks and dinner.  If you verbally agree to working with someone over drinks, what are the chances one person might back out of the agreement the next day? With drinks flowing, people are more willing to enter into agreements.  Once they are sober, they might question that agreement and pretend it never existed. In the words of Jaime Foxx,  " blame it on the a a a a a alcohol"

“You should never leave your affairs up to chance. Leaving specific and detailed instructions in your will or trust can help solve complications down the line”

Well, the good thing is, it was only a verbal agreement. The bad thing is, it was only a verbal agreement.

When it comes to estate planning, many people make the common mistake of assuming their loved ones will honor their true wishes, as expressed verbally.  You should never leave your affairs up to chance. Leaving specific and detailed instructions in your will or trust can help solve complications down the line. There will be no question as to what your wishes are if they are clearly stated on paper.

In South Florida, there are a number of vehicles used with estate planning to protect both your assets and your wishes at your time of death. These documents will take away the possible 'he-said-she said' verbal agreements prior to your passing.

Revocable Trust(living trust): Allows you to control and manage assets in your trust while you are alive.

Living Will and Healthcare Surrogate- Will allow you to designate who will make medical decisions when you are unable to do so yourself.

Assignment of Property: Assign your property into your trust (real and personal property) to protect your assets.

Durable Power of Attorney: Designate and authorize someone to legally act on your behalf in the event you become incapacitated.

Last Will and Testament: Used upon death to distribute property to beneficiaries, specify last wishes, and name guardians for minor children.

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach county contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.

You can’t predict the future, but you can plan for it.

Let's Talk About Wills Baby

Let's Talk About Wills Baby. Let's Talk About Your Money. Let's Talk About All The Good Things and The Bad Things That Could Be. Let's Talk About Wills.

Ok, now stop singing and let's get serious.

What are the benefits of a will?

·      Easy to establish

·      Less expensive to establish

·      Governs the distribution of your assets upon your death

·      States who will be the guardian of your minor children or special needs children

·      States your wishes to be buried or cremated

·      Ability to be updated/amended at any time

“It does not govern assets held jointly or those that you designate a beneficiary”

What are things to consider with a will? 

·      Must go through probate

·      Does not address incapacity

A will is your strategy for distributing your assets upon your death. It applies only to assets that are held in your individual name. It does not govern assets held jointly or those that you designate a beneficiary. A will does not prevent probate. When you die,  the Judge reviews the will to determine if it is valid. Once the will is validated, the Judge will grant powers to the executor to collect and manage your assets and distribute your property to beneficiaries after creditors and taxes are paid. Make sure you pick someone you trust to carry out your final wishes.

One thing to keep in mind, a will is the only documents that can designate guardians whether it’s for a minor child or a special needs child.

A will does not address incapacity issues. In addition to having a will, everyone should have his or her advanced directives. That includes your Durable Power of Attorney, Healthcare Surrogate and Living Will. Those 3 documents specifically address incapacity.

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach county contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs. You can’t predict the future, but you can plan for it!

Why We Procrastinate About Estate Planning

A lot of people have not participated in any meaningful estate planning. Most people will admit that it is something they need to do, but keep putting it off. What is the reason?

Listed below are some common reasons why we procrastinate about estate planning:

 (1) It is expensive

The reality is, most people do not have extra money lying around these days. However, not doing anything can end up costing your loved ones much more than it would cost you to plan now.

If you own assets in your name and you become incapacitated due to illness or injury, you (your assets and your care) will likely be placed in a court guardianship. This is not free. All costs (attorney fees, accounting fees, court costs, etc) will be paid from your assets and your family will probably have to ask the court for an allowance if they need money for living expenses.

This process does not replace probate when you die; your family will have to go through the court system again, and that means more expenses and less for your family. Your assets will be distributed according to Florida law, which probably won't be what you would have wanted.

Estate planning does not have to be expensive. You can start off with a simple will and then later upgrade to a trust when you can afford it.

 (2) " I do not own enough"

Estate planning is not just for the wealthy. In fact, costs for a court guardianship and probate usually take a higher percentage from smaller estates (which can least afford it) than from larger ones.  Even if you own a small amount, you would prefer to see it go to your loved ones than to courts and attorneys.

 (3) " I am not old enough"

Estate planning is important for everyone (ages 18-100).  Young people seem to think they are going to live forever. The reality is, that any of us, at any age, can become incapacitated or die due to an illness, injury, accident, or random act of violence. (Just read the newspaper or watch the evening news, you will see random acts of violence on a daily basis)

“Estate planning does not have to be expensive. You can start off with a simple will and then later upgrade to a trust when you can afford it.”

 (4) It is too confusing. I do not know what to do:

Attorneys are called ' counselors at law' for a reason. An experienced estate planning attorney knows what other families have been through, knows what has worked well, and what has not. An experienced attorney can help you understand the process and make challenging decisions easier.

 So why do we need estate planning?

·       To make sure our assets will go the people we want to have them with the least amount of delay, hassle and expense

·       To keep our families from having to deal with the courts if we become incapacitated and when we die

·       Let our families know that we care about them, that we want to provide for them and protect them.

·       We do it for love--but the huge benefit of estate planning: PEACE OF MIND

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach county contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs. 

YOU CAN'T PREDICT THE FUTURE, BUT YOU CAN PLAN FOR IT!

Pass the Turkey, Pass The Gravy, Pass the Durable Power of Attorney

It is that time of year again to sit down with your loved ones, over eat, and go around the table and say what you are thankful for. The reality of the situation is that you sit down to eat an overabundance of food with extended family members you sometimes wish were strangers. You hope you don’t come across as rude when you would rather pay attention to the football game on the television as opposed to listening their mundane stories. After all, if you really wanted to hear their stories throughout the year, you could have called them, texted or even sent a Facebook message.  

It is the start of the holiday season in South Florida and the last thing on your mind is planning your estate for when you pass away or preparing documents in case you become incapacitated. But in reality, this time of year makes you realize that if you do not properly plan your estate, family members that you are not too fond of might fight over your estate (and win). Is that really something you want to happen when you pass away?  I think not!

Start thinking about who you would like to make medical and financial decisions for you in case you are unable to make those decisions for yourself. Remember, if you are married, your spouse is not legally given the right to make medical and financial decisions for you.  That right must be placed in writing. Also, if you have “children” in college, you will need their written permission to make decisions for them. “Because I said so”, is no longer a valid answer as a parent once your child reaches the age of eighteen! 

“But in reality, this time of year makes you realize that if you do not properly plan your estate, family members that you are not too fond of might fight over your estate (and win)”

It is the perfect time for South Florida residents to think about building (or updating) their estate-planning portfolio:

Will: State your final wishes regarding who will receive or who will not receive from your estate, name guardians for your minor children, state directions regarding organ donation and burial

 Revocable Trust(living trust): In depth document that will state your final wishes. You are able to place stipulations and retain control of your assets during your lifetime. 

Supplemental Documents 

Durable Power of Attorney: Name someone to manage your financial affairs either immediately or in the future should you become unable to do so yourself. 

Living Will: Document that will state how and if you want to prolong your life if you fall into a vegetative state.

 Healthcare Surrogate: Name someone to act on your behalf if you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself.

If you live in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach counties it is time to start discussing with loved ones their estate planning needs. You can’t predict the future, but you can plan for it.

Contact an experienced estate-planning attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.

Who Needs to Know About Your Living Will?

“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Some things are better left unknown for those who were not involved.  That saying does not ring true for estate planning. In Florida, if you have decided to prepare for your passing and plan to have a living will drafted, who should know?

A living will is pointless if no one knows that it exists. You should be proud of yourself for not procrastinating and properly planning. However, if the appropriate parties are unaware of the existence of the living will, it’s just as good as never being drafted at all.

In order for loved ones and physicians to know your decisions concerning medical treatments in South Florida you will need to follow these 5 steps to create an effective living will.

“A living will is pointless if no one knows that it exists. ”

(1)Appoint a health care agent: Appoint someone as your healthcare agent with a durable power of attorney known as a Designation of Health Care Surrogate.  Your agent will have the legal authority to make health care decisions for you if you are no longer able to speak for yourself.

(2) Attach a signed HIPAA release form: You must provide your health care provider with a signed HIPAA release form so that he can discuss your medical information with your agent. It is suggested to provide a release form to all of your physicians and insurance carrier.

(3) Draft Instructions for health care:  Write instructions for your future health care outlining your wishes about life sustaining medical treatment in the event you can no longer speak for yourself. Your agent will be dictated to implement your written instructions.

(4) Revise: Written instructions must be absolutely clear to be enforceable.  Your written instructions must clearly answer the question about life-sustaining care.

(5) Notify your attending physician: Once your living will is drafted, it’s your responsibility to notify your physician that you have one. It is also important to discuss your health care desires with your physician. He or she is likely to honor requests that have been communicated to him or her directly.

Take charge of your last living decisions and plan ahead! An experienced South Florida estate-planning attorney will help ensure that the actual instructions for your wishes are stated accurately. For more information on successful Florida estate planning, please contact The Hershey Law Firm PA at (954) 303-9468 to schedule your free consultation.

Women Don’t Understand the Need and Importance of Estate Planning

Women today are not only in charge of running the household, but a majority of them are highly educated with masters and doctorate degrees. Some own their own businesses and others manage and oversee businesses of others. However, women still fall victim to thinking their husbands will take care of financial and estate planning needs for the household. Usually, that’s not the case.

Potential concerns for a Fort Lauderdale, Florida married woman in her late 30’s:

Rachel, a married woman has 1 young child from her first marriage and 2 young children from her second marriage. She owns 50% of a local South Florida business recently appraised for several million dollars. Rachel is concerned about disputes with her business partner. To top it all, she is in the process of a divorce with her second husband.

At this time, Rachel has no will or trust in place. She is a woman, getting divorced, with children different marriages, a multi-million dollar business, an estate possibly  subject to estate taxation, and problems with a business partner. The urgency and need to consult with an estate planning/asset protection attorney is huge. She needs to start planning now to avoid losing all that she has worked for!

Consequences for Rachel not having a will or trust in place:

Under Florida law of intestacy (meaning no estate planning in place), Rachel’s ownership interest in the business would be divided as follows: ½ to her ex- husband and ½ divided equally among her 3 children. All other assets (besides business ownership) would be divided the same way.

Without a will or trust, the assets her minor children would inherit will be subject to court supervised guardianship. This includes additional expenses that would not be applied if proper estate planning were in place. There will be fees for the guardian, attorney for the guardian, and the court will have to approve all expenditures. Worst of all, all assets inherited by each child will be turned over to the child at age 18 to do with whatever they please. 

With proper planning, assets for minors can be placed in a trust and you can direct (from the grave), how and when the child will receive their assets. For example, you may want to give ¼ of the assets to the child when they enter college, give another ¼ to the child when they graduate, then give the remaining ½ when they turn 25 or 30 years of age. You hope that at that time they will be responsible with their inheritance.

With respect to Rachel, her children and ex-husband would become partners in the business. The court appointed guardian would become a new partner in the business with respect to her minor children’s interest.

“Without a will or trust, the assets her minor children would inherit will be subject to court supervised guardianship.”

Rachel currently has a life insurance policy. Life insurance is an extremely useful tool in estate planning to help properly provide for your children’s needs you’re your death. Rachel would have to make sure that it was payable upon her to death to her children and not to her ex-husband. If the beneficiary information is not updated and changed, an ex-spouse can receive a nice chunk of change upon your passing.  Pretty sure no one would want that to happen!

Furthermore, Rachel has no planning in place in case she was unable to make financial or medical decisions for herself.  If she were to get into an accident, and was unable to make an emergency medical decision, and she had a health care surrogate drafted, that person could act on her behalf for medical decisions. If,by chance, she falls into a vegetative state and does not wish for her life to be prolonged, she would need to prepare a living will that clearly outlines her final wishes.

Rachel’s action plan to prepare her estate accordingly:

(1) Review all of her beneficiary designations and change them to someone other then her ex-husband.

(2) Prepare a will that will identify who she wants to care for her minor children

(3) Look over her life insurance policy and meet with a representative to see if she has enough coverage to care for her children.

(4) Prepare a trust so her assets can avoid probate.

(5) Prepare a living will, healthcare surrogate, durable power of attorney

(6) Make sure she has a buy-sell agreement with her business partner

(7) Make sure she has a business continuity plan to provide for continuation of the business in the event of her death or disability

Contact an experienced estate planning/asset protection attorney at The Hershey Law Firm, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at (954) 303-9468 to discuss your estate planning needs.

Am I Too Young To Think About Estate Planning?

What makes humans different from other animals is that we know we are going to die. That knowledge gives us the incentive to make the most of the time we have and prepare accordingly for when our time comes.

There is no way to know when we are going to die. Young people assume they will wake up every morning, whereas old people are surprised each morning they wake up.

No one can honestly say they “enjoy” talking about their final days on this earth. However, it is a conversation that should be held between a husband and wife.  If you are not married, it is a conversation you should have with close family members and friends.

Estate planning is more  important for younger families with minor children.  You need to pre-plan and protect your surviving spouse along with appointing a guardian for your children. For example, a wife is the bread winner and the husband is  a “stay at home dad”. If husband and wife do not plan for death, and the wife dies, now the husband will have to go back to work and possibly find alternative living arrangements.

There are number of vehicles used with estate planning to protect both your assets and your wishes at your time of death: 

Revocable Trust(living trust): Allows you to control and manage assets in your trust while you are alive.

Living Will and Healthcare Surrogate- Will allow you to designate who will make medical decisions when you are unable to do so yourself.

Assignment of Property: Assign your property into your trust (real and personal property) to protect your assets.

Durable Power of Attorney: Designate and authorize someone to legally act on your behalf in the event you become incapacitated.

Last Will and Testament: Used upon death to distribute property to beneficiaries, specify last wishes, and name guardians for minor children.

“There is no way to know when we are going to die. Young people assume they will wake up every morning, whereas old people are surprised each morning they wake up.”

With the expertise of a South Florida estate planning attorney, you can start the process of thinking about what is important to you and how you would like protect your family and assets for the future. 

Fore more information on successful South Florida estate planning, please contact The Hershey Law Firm, PA in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at (954) 303-9468 to schedule your free consultation.  

Who Can Make Decisions For Me If I Become Incapacitated?

As a child, we are told to do this and do that. All children say “I can do it myself”

If all you wanted when you were a child was to be an adult to make your own decisions, why would you allow yourself to be placed in that same situation again as an adult?  Do you really want someone else to decide the most important decision you will ever be faced with? If you become incapacitated, do you want someone else to decide when to “pull the plug” or “take out the feeding tube”?

“The last thing families should deal with at such a difficult time is inner family fighting over your last wishes.”

A very famous Florida case lasting from 1990-2005 was the Terri Schiavo case. The issue was whether to carry out the decision of her husband, to terminate life support for his wife or follow the wishes of her parents.  Terri collapsed at home in full cardiac arrest and suffered massive brain damage due to lack of oxygen. After 2.5 months Terri was diagnosed by doctors as being in a “persistent vegetative state”. The case was highly publicized and prolonged by court appeals and multiple denials by the Supreme Court of the United States.  Terri’s life was prolonged for years due to the fact that her wishes were unknown. 

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Without proper planning your ultimate last wishes will be unknown. You can have conversations with your spouse, your children, family members and close friends. However, unless there is something written on paper, your wishes will go unheard. The last thing families should deal with at such a difficult time is inner family fighting over your last wishes.

There are a number of documents that will state exactly what a person wants when they become incapacitated.

Durable Power of Attorney: This document will state who will be in charge of financial decisions on your behalf.

Healthcare Surrogate: This document will direct who will make healthcare decisions (ie. If you get into a car accident and are not conscious to decide if you should get surgery)

HIPPA Release: This will allow the individual you choose to view your medical records. Even married couples cannot view their spouse’s medical records (MRI, Xray, etc) without a HIPPA release.

Living Will (Advanced Directive): This form of “will” is to be used while an individual is still alive (but no longer able to make decisions) hence the term “living will”.

This document will state how and if you want to prolong your life if you fall into a vegetative state.  You can state if you wish to be placed on life support, if so, for how long and at what point to “pull the plug”. You can also state if you wish to receive a feeding tube and when you wish to take it out.

Without the use of the (1) Durable Power of Attorney, (2) Healthcare Surrogate, (3) HIPPA Release, and (4) Living Will, your wishes will not be heard.  Do not let someone else direct your life when it matters most.

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Take charge of your last living decisions and plan ahead! For more information on successful Florida estate planning, please contact The Hershey Law Firm PA at (954) 303-9468 to schedule your free consultation.